


Watch My Back

by Coffeesforcatchers



Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canonical Character Death, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-The Naked And The Dead, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Temporary Character Death, respawn works dont worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:34:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22538641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coffeesforcatchers/pseuds/Coffeesforcatchers
Summary: “Could’ya watch my back this round? For some reason I’m kinda nervous about this match. Dunno why, but still.”Sniper stood, putting his free hand on Scout’s shoulder. The younger man froze, staring up at him, cap pushed back on his head. “Course I will. I won’t let any of those blue wankers lay a bloody finger on ya.”The doors burst open, signalling the start of the match. Scout reached up on his tiptoes and pressed a kiss to Sniper’s cheek. “Let’s get ‘em,” Scout said, sparing a glance back to Sniper as he darted onto the battlefield.
Relationships: Scout/Sniper (Team Fortress 2)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 91





	Watch My Back

**Author's Note:**

> I definitely haven't binged through all of the sniperscout fanfiction and gotten desperate and written my own.

“Mission begins in sixty seconds.”

Scout bounced on the balls of his feet, anxious energy making itself known. Sniper looked up from loading his rifle, smiling as he watched Scout fidget. It was just the two of them in this particular resupply room, the rest of the team in either of the other two. 

“Snipes?” Scout asked, not turning around to face his boyfriend. 

“Yeah, Roo?” 

“Could’ya watch my back this round? For some reason I’m kinda nervous about this match. Dunno why, but still.”

Sniper stood, putting his free hand on Scout’s shoulder. The younger man froze, staring up at him, cap pushed back on his head. “Course I will. I won’t let any of those blue wankers lay a bloody finger on ya.”

The doors burst open, signalling the start of the match. Scout reached up on his tiptoes and pressed a kiss to Sniper’s cheek. “Let’s get ‘em,” Scout said, sparing a glance back to Sniper as he darted onto the battlefield. 

Sniper took a breath, staring at the dust trail his boyfriend left behind. He trotted after him and made his way to his nest. He set up relatively quickly, soda bottles and empty jars on a crate next to him, and he looked over the battlefield. 

It seemed to be going well. Soldier, Demo, and Medic were pushing the enemy lines, while Heavy followed close behind. Sniper picked off the enemy soldier with a clean headshot. “That helmet ain’t gonna save ya, mate,” he murmured, knowing full well that the dead soldier couldn’t hear. 

Sniper scanned back towards his own team’s territory. Engie was upgrading his sentry guns, and Pyro was hiding by the dispenser, healing up before rejoining the offensive push. And god only knew where Spy was hiding. 

He realized with a panic that Scout was on his own. He sat on a crate by one of their team’s checkpoints, and he didn’t seem to be in any danger. Scout swung his legs, chewing his bubblegum. He looked up to Sniper’s nest and waved.

Sniper flicked on his mic. “What are ya doin’ all on your own, Roo?”

“I’m tryna play it safe,” Scout replied, popping a large bubble with a crack. “I know my strategy’s usually offense, but I wanted to switch it up.”

“Alright then, keep yourself safe,” Sniper warned. 

“Hey! I thought ya said that you would watch me!”

“I am,” Sniper responded. 

“I know you’ve got the rest of the team to worry about, I was just joking.”

“Well, I wasn’t. Stay safe.”

Scout scoffed. “‘Course. They can’t hit me, I’m too fast.”

Sniper smiled, shutting off his mic for the time being. He returned to his job, picking off enemies one by one, muttering to himself at each headshot.

* * *

Several hours passed. Sniper glanced back to Scout, standing near the midpoint as Soldier approached from the front lines. 

Solly held up a hand in greeting, and Scout returned the gesture, not paying his teammate much mind. Sniper frowned, swinging his scope over to Soldier. No salute? That was strange. 

Piss, Sniper realized. That Soldier’s a spy. The Spy was heading behind Scout, knife in hand. There was no time to warn him. He swung his rifle, pulling the trigger in a panic. 

The bullet glanced past the Spy’s shoulder, enough so to trigger off the disguise. Sniper had missed the shot. He frantically tried to reload another shot, but there wasn’t enough time. 

Sniper watched as Scout startled as the bullet embedded itself behind him, spun around just in time to catch the Spy’s knife as he tried to backstab him, instead getting stabbed in the shoulder, the blood darkening Scout’s already red shirt. 

Something startled the Spy away, not bothering to put the young man out of his misery, instead leaving him to bleed out. 

Sniper watched as Scout pressed a hand to his collarbone, desperate to stop the bleeding. Sniper was surprised that the force of the stab hadn’t sent Scout to the ground already, watching with mute horror as Scout stumbled to find his balance, reaching out blindly with the hand not holding his chest, slumping against a crate, smearing blood down the side of it. His chest heaved, and even from a distance, Sniper could see Scout’s skin going pale. 

Scout was bleeding out, alone, and Sniper had promised him that he wouldn’t let anyone hurt him. He remembered watching him die alongside Spy, having just come back to life himself. He had watched the light drain from his eyes, the blood puddle spread across the floor, and gos, Sniper was back there, naked, vulnerable, could do nothing but watch him die. 

Sniper shut his eyes as his body was claimed by the Respawn system, and he screamed, grabbing an empty jar and lobbing it at the wall of his nest. The shattered glass rained down around him as his stomach protested all of the coffee he had drank that day. 

Scout was dead. Sniper had failed him. 

* * *

“Victory!” the Administrator crowed, signalling the end of the day. Sniper felt his breath leave him with a sigh. He slung his rifle over his back, tucked his bushwacka into his belt, and climbed down from his nest. 

The other mercenaries rushed past him on their way back to base, each congratulating him and each other on a good day’s work. Scout wasn’t with them, which set Sniper’s heart rate racing. He knew that Respawn was up and running, that Scout was alive, but as much as he didn’t want to face Scout, he knew he had to get it over with.

He found himself standing outside the door to their Resupply. He didn’t know how much time had passed, but he needed to stop delaying the inevitable. Sniper pushed the door open and walked in. 

It was loud, everyone celebrating their win. Demo called out to Sniper. “Aye, that shot on their Soldier trying to blow me out of the sky was great, lad!”

“Thanks,” Sniper muttered, not making eye contact as he opened his locker and sat down on the bench in front of it. He sighed, rubbing a hand over his eyes.

Medic, Heavy and Demo shared a few side-eyed looks, but nevertheless went back to their revelry. One by one, the others left the resupply room to head back to base. All except one. 

A small elbow nudged into Sniper’s side. “Hey, Snipes,” Scout said. “What happened out there?”

Sniper pushed up his hat to run a hand through his hair. He didn’t look up at him, didn’t dare to make eye contact. “I missed the shot.”

Scout sat down next to him, wrapped a skinny arm around his waist. His other hand, still wrapped in athletic tape, reached for Sniper’s chin, gently guiding him to look at him. He couldn’t help but gasp. 

Sniper’s eyes were bloodshot, puffy around the edges, even past the tinted lenses of his shooting glasses. As much as Sniper wanted to lean into Scout’s touch, he felt like he didn’t deserve it. He stood, swinging a leg over the bench to try and get up. 

“Snipes, what’s wrong?”

Sniper took off his sunglasses, tucking them into a pocket of his uniform vest. “I promised you this morning that I wouldn’t let anyone hurt you.”

Scout stood up slowly, trying not to startle the other man. “Yeah, I know that, Snipes. Hell, I bashed his skull in with my bat as soon as I came back from Respawn. And then when he came back the next time, Spy really tore his shit up. We can’t make every shot. It’s okay that you didn’t get him. ”

“No.” Sniper jerked to face him, a fury in his eyes that neither could really understand. “It’s not okay that I couldn’t kill that bloody wanker. After I missed that shot, I watched ya bleed out. There was nothing I could do but watch ya bleed out again.”

The fight left him, his posture slumping. Scout took a step towards him, and just when he got within arms’ reach of his boyfriend, Sniper sank to his knees and buried his face in his hands. 

“I’m sorry, Roadrunner, I disappointed ya. I let you down out there, and you got hurt because I couldn’t make the bloody shot. I don’t want to see you die again, Jeremy.”

“Oh, Mickey,” Scout said, getting down on his knees as well, gathering the sniper in his arms. “I’m not disappointed in ya, promise. I could never be disappointed in ya. We’re all human, as much as we like to forget it. Except maybe Pyro, I dunno. I’m sorry you had to watch me die again, Mick. I’m real sorry. Now, let’s get you home, Kookaburra.” He held out a hand and pulled Sniper to his feet. Scout manipulated his limbs so one lanky arm rested over his shoulders, and they started the walk back to Sniper’s camper van. They walked in near silence, Scout humming a song that he knew that Sniper said he liked. 

Once they were there, Sniper went to grab his key to get in, but Scout nudged him aside. “I’ve got it, Mick. Besides, I nicked the key from your pocket.”

Sniper smiled weakly, nudging Scout back. He let him lead him into his camper, watched as he set down the key, his hat and headset. He sat down on one of the chairs and started untying his shoes. 

“Hey, Kookaburra, are you gonna get those boots off or what?” Scout teased as Sniper stood there and watched. “Actually, got a question for ya. Do ya want to take a shower, or skip that for now and get up in your bunk and cuddle for a bit?”

Sniper sighed, putting his hat on the hook near the door. “I should probably shower, but right now I just wanna hold you, Roadrunner.”

Scout smiled, standing up to jump up onto the ladder to their bunk. “I’ll meet you up there, then, Kook.” He scampered up into the already unmade bed, shucking off his shirt and socks once he was settled.

Sniper followed suit, taking off his vest and shirt and climbing into bed with him. Scout scooted over, making room for his boyfriend, and let out an oof when, instead of using the pillow, Sniper laid his head on his chest. “Mickey, babe, I’m real sweaty, I’ve got to smell nasty, what are you doing?”

“Just wanna hear your heartbeat, love,” Sniper explained, mumbled halfway into Scout’s chest. 

Scout ran his fingers through Sniper’s hair, playing with the small curl at the base of his skull. “Yeah, me too.”

A moment later, Scout heard Sniper’s breathing even out, shutting his eyes to sleep. It would be okay. They would be okay.


End file.
